Anchor line retaining devices



Sept. 25, 1962 Filed Sept. 4. 1959 8. RYAN ANCHOR LINE RETAINING DEVICES2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

57'AA/LE) RYAN ATTozA/Ey Sept. 25, 1962 5. RYAN 3,

ANCHOR LINE RETAINING DEVICES Filed Sept. 4. 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR. 574N457 AYA/v ATTORNEY States ite This invention pertains tonew and improved anchor line retaining devices.

The boat anchor line or rope can, when employed in a conventionalmanner, be a substantial hazard for a boat owner and to other boats.When a boat is anchored in a conventional manner such a line extendsfrom the upper portion of a 'boat so as to intersect the water at asubstantial distance from the boat proper. An anchor line extending inthis manner is apt to be hit by other boats. There is also a substantialdanger that it will be severed by another boat. In either of theseeventualities there is serious danger of economic loss.

A broad object of the present invention is to provide anchor lineretaining devices which substantially eliminate or minimize such dangerof economic loss. A more specific object of the present invention is toprovide anchor line retaining devices which accomplish this firstobjective by holding anchor lines during their use so that they extendfrom the lower part of a boat rather than from the upper part of a boat.Another object of this invention is to provide anchor line retainingdevices of this category which contain no moving parts, and which as aconsequence of this are to a large extent substantially immune from theeffects of corrosion, galvanic action or the like which would, in otherrelated devices, affect the ability of diflerent parts to move relativeto one another.

Other objects of the present invention are to provide anchor lineholders which are relatively inexpensive to manufacture, which may heeasily and conveniently installed upon a boat with a minimum amount ofdifliculty, and which may be easily used in the intended manner. Stillfurther objects and advantages of this invention will be fully apparentfrom a consideration of the remainder of this description including theappended claims and the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view showing an anchor line retainingdevice of this invention installed upon a boat hull;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion of the boathull illustrated in FIG. 1, and the holder illustrated in FIG. 1 inelevation;

FIG. 3 is a view taken at line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIGS. 4 to 8 are perspective views showing the use of the retainingdevice illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 2 of a modified anchor line retainingdevice of this invention;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 3 of this modified device shown inFIG. 9; and

FIGS. 11 to 14 are side elevational views illustrating the use of thismodified anchor line retaining device shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

Wherever convenient for purposes of illustration and explanation likenumerals are used to designate like parts in the accompanying drawings.These drawings are primarily intended so as to clearly illustrateseveral preferred embodiments or forms of this invention; they are notto be taken as limiting this invention in any respect. Those skilled inthe art to which the present invention pertains will realize that anchorline retaining devices as herein described may be modified through theexercise of routine engineering skill without departing from theessential features of this invention as set forth in this specificationand as summarized in the appended claims.

As an aid to understanding this invention it can be stated inessentially summary form that it concerns anatent 3,055,333 PatentedSept. 25, 1 962 ohor line retaining devices which are used incombination with a boat hull adjacent to the water line of such a hull.These retaining devices include means by which they are attached to sucha boat hull and tortuous rod means extending therefrom. Such tortuousmeans are adapted to act in the manner of a labyrinth in engaging ananchor line or rope so as to hold this rope so that it extends from theboat hull adjacent to the water line of such a hull during the use of ananchor line retaining device of this invention.

The actual details of this invention are best more fully explained byreferring directly to the accompanying drawings. In FIG. 1 there isshown an anchor line retaining device 10 of the present invention usedupon a boat hull 12 so as to hold an anchor line 14 so that this anchorline extends from a cleat 16 on the deck of the hull 12 through thedevice 10 so as to intersect the water at about the water line of thehull 12. During such use the line 14, of course, is secured to an anchor(not shown).

The device 10 consists of a shank 18 passing through a hole 20 in thehull 12 adjacent to the water line of this hull. Around one end of theshank 18 there is formed an external flange 22 which bears against asealing washer 24 which in turn bears against the hull 12. The shank 18is held in place through the use of a nut 26 threaded upon it within theinterior of the hull 12. This nut 26 bears against a conventional washer28 and a sealing Washer 30 in the established manner so that both of thesealing washers 24 and 30 are held under compression at all times.

A small plate 32 having the general shape of a portion of a cylinder isattached to the shank 18 adjacent to the flange 22 on the exterior ofthe hull 12. From this plate there extends in a circular path a firsttortuous rod 34. Another similar rod 36 extends from the plate 32parallel to the rod 34 as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 3 of the drawings. Itis noted that these rods 36 and 34 extend from opposite ends of theplate 32 so that a curved end 38 of the rod 34 is located adjacent tothe point where the rod 36 is attached to the plate 32 and so that anend of the rod 36 is located adjacent to the point where the rod 34 isattached to the plate. A rod-like finger 42 is secured to the plate 32directly opposite the end 40 so as to project therefrom. Both the end 38and the finger 42 diverge from the parallel planes in which the rods 34and 36 are located so as to be directed generally away from one another.

The use of the anchor line retaining device 10 is essentially verysimple. In FIGS. 1 and 2 of the drawings this device is shown in useholding an anchor line While the hull 12 is being anchored. When it isused the line 14 extends through the centers of the circles defined bythe rods 34 and 36 as indicated in FIGS. 2 and 4 of the drawings. Whenit is desired to release this line 14, the line is manipulated from thetop of the hull 12 so as to slide between the finger 42 and the end 40as idicated in FIG. 5. Then it is further manipulated so as to be loopedaround the rod 34 as indicated in FIG. 6 of the drawings and byadjusting the angle between this line 14 and the hull 12 it is pulledback along the rod 34 as indicated in FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawingsuntil such time as it slides off of the rod 34. All of thesemanipulations may be easily carried out from the hull 12 with a minimumof diificulty.

The line 14 may be easily attached to the device 10 before an anchor(not shown) is put overboard. Briefly, in attaching this line 14 it islooped around the device 10 while ends of the loop are held by anindividual upon the hull 12. It is then drawn up against this device 10so that one of the ends of the loop will be engaged by the end 38 andslipped within the rod 34. The line 14 may be then pulled so as toextend out between the end 40 and a finger 42 by manipulation of theangle at which we I the line is held. At this point the anchor (notshown) attached to this line may be put overboard.

In FIGS. 9 and 10 of the drawings there is shown a modified anchor lineretaining device 50 of this invention which is similar to the device 10.For convenience corresponding parts of the two devices 10 and 50 aredesignated in the drawings by the primes of the numerals previously usedand are not separately described in this specification.

In the device 50 from adjacent to the flange 22 there extends from theshank 18 a single tortuous rod 52 extending in essentially a helicalpath corresponding to in excess of 360 of rotation around an axis;preferably this path corresponds to at least 450 of rotation about suchan axis of a cylinder in order to achieve an eflicient holding action.This rod 52 extends in a path around a cylinder as shown. Thus, the rod52 when viewed in a side elevational view as in FIG. 9 extends in ahelical path. This rod 52 terminates in a small bent or locked end 54extending toward the center of this helical path. For weight reasons therod '52 is preferably tapered along its length so as to be largeradjacent to the shank 18' than at its end 54.

The use of the device 50 is similar to the use of the device 10. Inattaching an anchor line to it a loop is formed in such a line 14' asindicated in FIG. 11 of the drawing and such a loop is drawn up againstthe rod 52 as indicated in FIG. 12. Then it is pulled outwardly andtension upon it is released slightly as indicated in FIG. 13. At thispoint an anchor (not shown) attached to the line 14 may be put overboardand such a line will be securely held so as to extend from the hull 12'in a desired manner as indicated in FIG. 14. The line 14 may be releasedfrom the device 50 by the simple expedient of drawing it back along therod 52 either by hand or through the use of an appropriate manipulativeinstrument, such as a boat hook, until it is free and clear of thisdevice 50.

Those skilled in the art to which this invention pertains will realizethat anchor line retaining devices as herein shown and described arevery efficient structures for the purpose intended. The simplicity ofthese devices is considered to be of material importance. Since thesedevices have essentially no moving parts there is substantially nodanger of their operation being aifected by corrosion or the like.Because of the nature of this invention it is to be considered as beinglimited only by the appended claims forming a part of this disclosure.

I claim:

1. An anchor line retaining device which comprises, in combination: aboat hull having a water line; and tortuous rod means extending fromsaid boat hull adjacent to said water line on the exterior of said hull,said tortuous rod means defining a labyrinth in which said tortuous rodmeans extends vertically with respect to said hull designed to engage ananchor line so as to hold said line so that it extends from said boathull adjacent to said water line.

2. An anchor line retaining device as defined in claim 1 wherein saidtortuous rod means comprises two separate tortuous rods extending inplanes parallel to one another in circular paths, the base of one ofsaid rods being adjacent to the end of the other of said rods, the baseof the other of said rods being adjacent to the end of said one of saidrods.

3. An anchor line retaining device which comprises, in combination, aboat hull having a water line; a shank secured to said boat hulladjacent to said water line; a first tortuous rod secured to said shankon the exterior of said hull, said first rod extending in a circularpath and terminating adjacent to said shank; a second tortuous rodsecured to said shank and extending on the exterior of said hull in acircular path and terminating adjacent to said shank, said rodsextending in planes parallel to one another, the base of one of saidrods being adjacent to the end of the other of said rods, the base ofthe other of said rods being adjacent to the end of said one of saidrods both of said rods extending in a vertical path so that one of saidrods has an extremity which is located above the extremity of the otherof said rods, the extremity of said other of said rods being shaped soas to provide a curved end extending away from both of said rods; andfinger means located on said shank adjacent to said uppermost extremity,said finger means being curved so as to extend away from the planes ofboth of said rods.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 90,998DHeureuse June 8, 1869 1,531,746 Fort Mar. 31, 1925 2,526,348 Gouge Oct.17, 1950 2,581,676 Loaney Ian. 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS 495,154 GreatBritain Nov. 8, 1938

